Outside the Hospital
by tnplh
Summary: Cameron Goes on a Date
1. Chapter 1

Cameron was in a good place with her life. She thoroughly enjoyed her job, and felt comfortably situated working at Princeton Plains Teaching Hospital. And most importantly- she finally felt as though she'd kicked her schoolgirl crush on the most annoying man in the world- her boss. That's not to say she didn't still care. Quite the opposite- she loved him. But she was content with who they were as a pair. Him as the overbearing boss. Her as the eager student. She finally realized that with a man like him, she would never win, and stopped even trying.

As she got ready for her first date since the dinner with House, she looked forward to it more than she thought she would. Dinner with a nice lawyer she'd met through one of the nurses at the hospital. The thought of a dinner where her date wasn't cataloguing her flaws was nothing to be nervous about. She was smart, beautiful, nice-with a biting sense of humor of her own. If the lawyer didn't like her, she had no doubt she'd find someone who did. Someone who wasn't House.

Wearing a black satin pencil skirt, blue silk top with a black wrap sweater she watched the news, waiting for her date to pick her up. Jason. She looked forward to a man calling her Allison. The only man w ho called her Allison was Dr. Wilson, and she still called him Dr. Wilson. She couldn't yet bring herself to refer to him as James, or even just Wilson. Calling him Wilson or James would invite the raised eyebrow of House, while he puzzled out what brought on the familiarity between the two.

She'd met Jason just once before, at a bar near the hospital. She was there with Foreman and Chase having a few drinks after finishing up with a grueling patient. He was there to catch up with his friend, Julie, a nurse at the hospital. Cameron had noticed him sending looks her way, but thought nothing of it. Eventually Julie had turned around to see what or who her friend was looking at, noticed the three of them at the table, and brought Jason over to introduce everyone. After they left, Jason tried to subtly hint to Julie that she should fix him up with the gorgeous Dr. Cameron. Laughing at her friend's hints, she pulled out her cell phone and gave him Allison's number.

Jason arrived promptly, wearing a dark suit, without a corsage. Even though she thought the corsage was a bit much, it still shocked her that House had thought to do that. She shook her head at herself, and resolved that House should be the last person on her mind tonight. Opening the car door for her, he asked if she'd been to Antonio's, an Italian restaurant known for excellent food. She loved Italian, and said that sounded great. Depending on how dinner went, he planned on taking her to a hole in the wall jazz club- great jazz, perfect ambiance.

Having made reservations- she and Jason were able to be seated immediately. Dinner was going very well. They were both laughing, telling funny stories about their jobs. She indulged him with some excellent House stories, mostly involving his clinic duty. Being the lawyer that he was, he wondered at how Allison's boss still had his medical licence, and could find malpractice insurance. If Jason noticed that much of Cameron's talk was about her infamous boss, and how her face lit up just talking about him, he kept it to himself.

When they finished dinner, they walked down to the jazz club. It certainly wasn't someplace Cameron would have found on her own. The Maitre seemed to know everyone in there, and seat them in the perfect setting for the show. Figuring that Jason had brought his lady friend there on a date, he seated them in the back, a small, lowly lit booth where they could talk without disrupting the other patrons, but still be able to enjoy the show. Slightly awkward with each other in such an intimate setting, they waited for their drinks and watched the band.


	2. Chapter 2

In another dark and secluded corner of the club, a pair of piercing blue eyes stared at the young couple in the booth. House. Sitting by himself, with an already plentiful collection of empty glasses in front of him, the corners of his mouth turned up into a sarcastic smirk. Of course. _Of course_ she had to come to _his_ club. Of_ course_ she had to sit directly in his line of sight. He took another swig of the scotch in his hand and finished it in one gulp. Rubbing his eyes wearily, he flagged down the nearest waiter and pointed to his empty glass. He definitely needed to have another one.

Watching the two, he begrudgingly admitted that Allison looked like she was enjoying herself. He hated her for being so open to having a good time. Life wasn't a torture chamber for her. He was probably the only person who caused her a moment's unhappiness. And he enjoyed it. Spreading his misery to such a happy creature somehow eased his pain. It wasn't until he looked over to see Allison laughing at something Jason said, laughing harder than he'd ever seen before, even with Chase and Foreman, that he knew he had to do something. One more second of her beautiful, carefree face would ruin him.

Allison Cameron hadn't laughed this hard in a long time. It felt good. It was just some silly joke Jason had told her, but the nervousness she had been feeling about this date, coupled with the glass of wine she drank a little bit too fast made her finally relax and let loose. It felt wonderful. The more she laughed, the more flushed her face became, until she took a deep breath and with a goofy grin quickly wiped the small tears beneath her eyes. Jason smiled back at her with the same grin, and reached over to take her hand in his.

It was then that Allison noticed a man walking with a limp out of the corner of her eye. The gait of a person with a limp always caught Allison's attention. She looked up to see her boss coming towards their table. Before he even reached them, she knew it was going to be bad. She'd never seen that look on House's face before. Pure anger. Or was it hatred? In the back of her mind, she knew what he was upset about. She knew what was coming.

"So Dr. Cameron. Out enjoying yourself I see. That's wonderful." He turns to Jason and comments, "She never goes out. The last time she had sex was when she got high and screwed a co-worker. The poor boy still hasn't recovered."

The pre-emptive smile Allison had assumed, in the hopes of keeping House in check, disappeared quickly. Allison had a face that frowned deeply, and coupled that with rage she couldn't hide.

"GREGORY HOUSE," it was the only thing she could think of to stop him from continuing, and it worked. It was how his mother would have admonished him as a child. He realized Allison was the only person who could yell at him as an adult. Her opinion mattered. He decided that he couldn't have that. He was his own person, and no outside influence was going to change that. He continued.

"Did she have to bribe you to go out on a date with her?" She quit working for me, but when I wanted her to work for me again, she made me take her on a date. Wow, what a night."

Allison couldn't believe her ears. Using their date as a weapon. Not even on his worst day had he ever seemed so utterly despicable to her. "Are you high or just drunk? Maybe both?" She asked. He rolled his eyes as if to say, "No, Mom." All of the sudden Allison just shouts "OUTSIDE, NOW!" It was not a request; it was a demand. She grabbed him by the coat and pulled him toward the door, not even trying to be considerate of his leg.  
Once they were outside, House's bravado quickly disappeared. Maybe it was the cool air, sobering him up quickly. He stood there, silent, as Allison ranted. "How dare he ruin her date? How dare he talk about their date? How dare he bring up Chase?" He knew she was right, and couldn't even look her in the eyes. He must not have noticed her doing it, but she'd called a cab for him. It pulled up along the sidewalk, and she opened the door to put him in. From the look on her face as she closed the door alone, he knew how badly he'd hurt her.

There would be a lot of work ahead of him if he wanted to repair the ease and comfort there was when they worked side by side. He already missed the way she handed him his coffee before he even asked for it. He already missed the way his mail would be sorted, with what she knew he'd want to see and a few items she wanted him to see snuck in the stack. Then he realized how right she was. How dare he ruin her date with someone she seemed to be having a good time with because he wouldn't admit how he felt about her? That's what it all boiled down to, He loved her, and wouldn't give her the satisfaction of letting her know. It was more that he didn't want to give himself that happiness. "I'm such an asshole. Why should she have to deal with that?" She already was dealing with that. Allison trying to make herself happy by dating another man was unbearable to him. Not if he was who she really wanted.

Stricken with fear, the thought that maybe what he'd said ruined everything between them, forever, he told the driver there was a change in plans. Giving him Allison's, yes, she was Allison now, address, he prayed to a god he didn't even think he believed in that she wouldn't bring her date home.


	3. Chapter 3

Allison turned around to wave goodbye to Jason. He smiled at her and she smiled back. As soon as his car turned the corner, she breathed a sigh of relief. This night was going to go down as possibly the worst first date in the history of first dates. Jason had been very understanding when she tried to apologize for House's behavior. He listened with a kind ear and gave her sympathetic looks. He said he'd call, but she knew she wouldn't hear from him again. She came with too much baggage. He had to have realized what there was between her and her boss. Sighing wearily she turned and headed into the building. Walking slowly down the hallway and around the corner to her door, she fumbled in her purse for the keys. She mumbled to herself, "Why do they make these damn purses so tiny? How are you supposed to find anythi-"

She stopped dead in her tracks.

There was House. Sleeping. Slumped up against the wall outside her apartment and sleeping.

She froze. "Oh god", she said in a tiny voice. She didn't have the strength for this. Why was he here?  
Maybe he figured he hadn't done enough damage back at the club. Was he really that cruel? She sighed and closed her eyes. Rubbing her face wearily, she was startled when she heard his voice.

"Were you planning to wake me up or just let me sit out here in the hall all night?"

She only hesitated a moment but didn't turn to look at him and said, "Honestly, I was still trying to decide." Putting her forehead against the door, she thought, "I should deal with him now. Just get it over with." She turned to help him off the floor. Both stumbled. Allison was no counter to his weight, and his balance was severely impaired by his alcohol consumption this evening. She heard him groan in pain. Eventually he was on both feet, with his cane solidly gripped in his hand. Feeling like an inmate returning to his cell after a last minute stay of execution, he followed her. Allison was both his executioner, and the governor who could grant the pardon.

Once inside, he stood in the living room, not wanting to take the liberty of sitting down without her inviting him too. He heard her fumbling around in the kitchen, and eventually the sound of the coffee maker revealed her activity in there. She walked into the living room, and was startled to see him still standing. "Your leg hurts. You should sit down." He wondered why she was being so nice, until he saw her face. She was always nice, her anger didn't counter that. Her face showed the rage she was feeling.


End file.
